Sierra Vista update

The latest report on the wildfire south of Sierra Vista, Ariz. (where my stepdaughter Morgan and her husband Andrew live) has the fire still raging out of control in the mountains of the Coronado National Forest south of town.

The fire jumped U.S. 92 yesterday and has consumed more than 16,000 acres of mostly forested mountain terrain – bad news for the folks with homes and property in the canyons.

Here’s a map from the Sierra Vista Herald, showing the growth of the burn area from Wednesday to yesterday, the evacuation zone and the pre-evacuation zone:

 

Ramsey Canyon Road marks the northern boundary of the pre-evacuation zone and it’s about 5 miles south of Morgan and Andrew’s place and maybe 4 miles south of Andrew’s parents’ house. From my uneducated perspective, much of the terrain between the burn zone and the south edge of Sierra Vista is flat and more easily accessible to fire fighters than are the canyons.

Considering the assets being brought to bear on the fire, I think it’s unlikely that it will be allowed to advance into the urbanized areas of Sierra Vista, but what do I know? I’m mostly just guessing and high winds and continued dry conditions could conceivably make the fire virtually unstoppable.

The Sierra Vista Herald is doing a splendid job of keeping on top of things. You can follow the fire fighters’ progress at the paper’s web site here.